CITIZEN JANE: The Turbulent Life of Jane Fonda

by Christopher Andersen ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 1990

Unauthorized, packed Jane Fonds bio that dwells on her hardships and controversies, by the author of the exceptionally rich Hepburn family bio Young Kate (1988). Andersen gets a deeper, richer, more contentious picture of Fonda than Bill David. son does in his tender Jane Fonda (reviewed below). Andersen puts in everything and spells it out with a telling-it, all crispness. And there is much to tell about the woman who--with two Oscars out of seven Academy Award nominations--is now ""arguably the most powerful woman in the motion picture industry"" and ""one of the world's most successfully commercial authors, and the single most controversial figure Hollywood has ever produced."" Andersen frames his bio with controversy, opening with Jane's problems with Vietnam veterans in Waterbury, Conn., when it was announced that factory backgrounds for her latest film, Stanley and Iris, would be shot there. To assuage the vets, Jane called in Barbara Walters and did a mea culpa on 20/20; then, dissatisfied with this, she dropped into enemy territory for an emotion-packed three-hour talk with the Waterbury vets and did personal appearances at local charities. This, Andersen emphasizes, is typical of Fonda's need to achieve, a drive that has sought to duplicate father Henry's image as ""a national monument."" Jane's hardships include her mother's suicide; an ever. distant father, with whom she formed her most fulfilling tie during the filming of On Golden Pond; a series of father-figure mates who eventually failed her; drug-abuse, neurosis, bulimia; an early binding contract to Josh Logan; her ""Hanoi Jane"" label; and batches of bad pictures from whose embers she arose again and again, truly a phoenix. No stone unturned. A strong read.

Pub Date: June 21, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION